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Message: <blockquote data-quote="HeavenShallBurn" data-source="post: 4031474" data-attributes="member: 39593">No the only thing that is consistent is the end result.  There isn't any rule to create it no underpinning to work from it's just an arbitrary range where the end results are created out of nothing.  At a rules level there's a void you can't back-engineer and tweak because the table is the rule and there's no unifying mechanic behind it.You're mixing variability with arbitrariness and while the two have overlap they aren't the same.  What I'm trying to get at is the underlying hd/attack bonus/skills/saves system.  The various monster types were essentially built like classes with a formula of attributes you could reverse engineer and use for other things or rebalance as needed via a global change.  In 4e there isn't any of this the monsters are essentially built on an arbitrary framework from the table so it's difficult if impossible to separate the monster from the role as an independent entity.  You no longer have an orc with it's own set of universal traits altered via classes templates etc.  Now you have an orc brute or an orc leader, and they're characteristics will be derived from the tables rather than being an independent base of Orc to build from via differing methods.</blockquote>